LGBT Center Renovation

The Center, in the Greenwich Village Historic District, occupies a mid-19th century school building. This non-profit organization provides offices, meeting and social space to lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender groups. In 1985, we developed a master plan for the building's adaptive reuse. The street facade was restored in 1991 and the work received numerous awards.

The renovation project, completed in 2001, involved making necessary changes to provide spaces for the Center's functions and to make it code compliant while retaining the building's character and grit. We added a new core and increased the building's usable square footage by 20 percent.

We inserted a generous entry lobby with a three story ornamental stair lighted by a new skylight. On each floor, we built new hallways, ending in a floor to ceiling glazed curtain wall providing light and view. Juxtaposed against this new work are exposed, previously exterior, masonry surfaces and many fragments of the Stonewall Art Show. This archaeological approach retains the building's historical layering while celebrating its new life.